Clinton, Trump Supporters Have Starkly Different Views of a Changing Nation

From Pew Research Center

Supporters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump disagree on a range of policy issues, from terrorism to free trade. Yet they also have more fundamental differences over long-term changes in the country and the next generation’s future prospects.

A new national survey finds that Trump supporters overwhelmingly believe that life in America is worse than it was 50 years ago “for people like them.” Fully 81% of registered voters who support Trump say life has gotten worse, compared with just 11% who say it has gotten better (6% say it is about the same).

Most Clinton supporters take the opposite view: 59% say life for people like them has gotten better over the past half-century, while 19% think it has gotten worse and 18% see little change.

The candidates’ supporters have contrasting expectations for the nation’s future. Trump backers are broadly pessimistic – 68% say life for the next generation will be worse than today. Clinton supporters have mixed assessments. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) say life will be better, 28% say it will be about the same and just 30% say it will be worse.

The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted August 9-16 among 2,010 adults, including 1,567 registered voters, finds little change overall in voters’ views of how the nation has changed and its future prospects since March, during the presidential primaries. But the divisions evident in that survey are striking in the context of the general election.

The Effects of Lawn Signs on Vote Outcomes

Lawn signs are one of the few campaign tactics deployed by candidates for every level of government in the United States. Inexpensive and relatively easy to deploy, lawn signs are a tactic available to even the most obscure and underfunded candidate for a down-ballot office. Indeed, the efflorescence of roadside lawn signs is often one of the few outward manifestations of a low-salience election.

Although campaign tactics ranging from door-to-door canvassing to robotic phone calls have been evaluated by a vast array of field experiments conducted during the past fifteen years, lawn signs have largely escaped scholarly attention.

Working in collaboration with a congressional candidate, a mayoral candidate, an independent expenditure campaign directed against a gubernatorial candidate, and a candidate for county commissioner, we tested the effects of lawn signs by planting them in randomly selected voting precincts.


More from Science Direct

What is the best source for US house electoral data by districts?

One of the sources of House of Representative election data is the House website. However there's only data from 1920-2010. This citation is on a list from the Library of Congress.

The Federal Election Commission has data from 1982 through 2012.

There are other sources that involve paying for the information.

New York State Board of Elections Unofficial Election Night Results

The unofficial election night results displayed on this web site are based on the unofficial results reported to us by each County Board of Elections and as such, are posted on the web as a convenience to the public. New York State Election Law requires a complete recanvass of all votes cast on Election Day and the canvass of all valid absentee, special, and affidavit (provisional) ballots before any election results can be certified. Once all ballot counting tasks have been completed (usually within 15 days for a primary and within 25 days for a general election), each County Board certifies their respective election results pursuant to and in accordance with the applicable sections of New York State Election Law (see NYS Election Law, Sections 3-222, 9-200, 9-208). Those certifications are then sent to the State Board for aggregation, certification and publication/posting.

If you are looking for local election results, please contact the county board of elections. Write-in results are shown in the aggregate. Individual names for write-ins are only published in the official results and only by the State Board if a write-in candidate is a winner.

Public Mapping Project, for the drawing of electoral districts

The drawing of electoral districts is among the least transparent processes in democratic governance. All too often, redistricting authorities maintain their power by obstructing public participation. The resulting districts embody the goals of politicians to the detriment of the representational interests of communities and the public at large.

Members of the Public Mapping Project seek to change this power balance by making it possible for the public to draw the boundaries of their communities and to generate redistricting plans for their state and localities -- through their web-browsers. The Public Mapping Project is developing District Builder, an open source software redistricting application designed to give the public transparent, accessible, and easy-to-use on-line mapping tools.

This technological innovation will enable greater public participation where redistricting authorities solicit public input. Where redistricting authorities are not responsive to the representational needs of the public, plans drawn by the public may be used as a yardstick by which to compare a redistricting authority’s plan against. And where the courts must step in when the regular redistricting process breaks down, judges will have a greater menu of options to consider.

Election Administration by the Numbers

This is the first-ever report to analyze the completeness, strengths, weaknesses, and usefulness of data from sources such as state election divisions, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and its Election Administration and Voting Survey, public opinion surveys, and expert assessments...

The Pew Center on the States has been working with state election officials, researchers, and other experts to develop measurements and tools to improve election performance. This report follows up on Data for Democracy (2008), which reviewed ways in which data could support better election management, from the local to the national level.

* Link to full report (PDF)

* Link to publication web page to download individual sections

2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions

Here is a chronological list of all the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, caucuses, and conventions in 2012.

There are data to the states' rules. For instance:
Tuesday 24 April 2012 (tentative): 81 of 95 of New York's delegates to the Republican National Convention (3? from each of the state's 28 Congressional Districts) are allocated to presidential contenders in today's New York Presidential Primary.

There are also links to state constitutions, election authority (e.g. state Board of Elections), legislature, political parties and media.

ACE Electoral Knowledge Network

The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network is a "portal to the world of elections. The ACE network promotes credible, and transparent electoral processes with emphasis on sustainability, professionalism and trust in the electoral process. ACE offers a wide range of services related to electoral knowledge, assistance and capacity development. The network comprises of a global, thematic component (the ACE Practitioners' Network) and a regional component (the ACE Regional Electoral Resource Centres).

"The ACE website is an online knowledge repository that provides comprehensive information and customised advice on electoral processes. The website contains in-depth articles, global statistics and data, an Encyclopaedia of Elections, information on electoral assistance, observation and professional development, region- and country-specific resources, daily electoral news, an election calendar, quizzes, expert networks and much, much more. The ACE website is freely accessible to all and the number of visitors is constantly growing - as of January 2011 the website has more than 1,5 million unique visitors per year."

Where Do You Vote?

Here's a national search engine as to where you vote, providing even the hours the polls are open.

Here's a New York State lookup. "To use this page, you must be a registered voter in the New York State." You also need the date of birth of the voter. The upside is that it provides voter district information, such as one's Election District, County Legislative District, State Senate District, State Assembly District, Congressional District, Town or City, and Ward. It also provides the party affiliation, in case you've forgotten.

Before they vote: Send Them a Postcard

Want to make sure your friends and family are informed about just who they're voting for in the upcoming midterms?

With an unprecedented amount of money flowing into this year's midterm elections, help your friends and family follow the money by sending a customized postcard or three right from this website - no stamps necessary - about the elections happening in their community.

Each postcard will show the industries and organizations that contribute the most to the candidate (or candidates) you choose. Make it personal by writing a note to tell your friend or family member about why you want them to see the money and influence this political season.

Election-Related Spending by Political Committees & Non-Profits Up 40% in 2010

Report Prepared for a Conference on the Impact of Citizens United
Jointly Sponsored by the Campaign Finance Institute and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs

One part of the 2010 election spending story is based on publicly reportable activities. Non-party independent campaign spending in congressional elections is up by a very noticeable 73% in mid-October 2010, compared to the same time in 2008. In these reports, support for Republicans has nearly tripled from the mid-October level for 2008. There has already been more independent spending and electioneering in 2010 than in the full election cycle of 2008 – and this is before the traditionally heavy-spending final weeks of the campaign.

CQ Announces New Map That Shows 2008 Presidential Election Results By Congressional District

Congressional Quarterly Inc. has announced the launch of a new interactive map that shows the results of the 2008 presidential election by congressional district.

What if the 2008 presidential election had been re-run using a district-based system of awarding electoral votes — used only in two states — instead of the winner-take-all method that every other state uses?

The answer is that Barack Obama still would have beaten John McCain, though the Electoral College tally would have been closer than the actual 365-173 margin of victory.

According to a CQ Politics analysis, Obama would have beaten McCain 301-237 using a district-based system, under which a candidate receives two electoral votes for winning a state and one electoral vote for every congressional district he or she wins. Only Maine and Nebraska allocate electoral votes in this fashion.

The analysis found that Obama won 242 districts and McCain won 193 districts. Obama also posted another 59 electoral votes by carrying 28 states and the District of Columbia, which is entitled to three electoral votes under the 23rd Amendment. McCain would have received another 44 electoral votes as a result of winning 22 states.

HarpWeek: Explore History

"This website puts American history (1857-1912) in context. It uses Harper’s Weekly original news and feature articles, editorials, political cartoons, and period advertisements to provide overviews and analysis of events in the making of modern America." Lots of cartoonist Thomas Nast, plus perspective on Andrew Johnson's impeachment and the Electoral College debacle of 1876-77, which compares uunfavorably with Florida and the 2000 election.

Annenberg Political FactCheck/Project Vote Smart

Just because the campaign is overdoesn't mean you won't want to question the accuracy of political assertions. Check out FactCheck.org. "This non-profit, non-partisan website aims to clarify the claims made and the statistics stated. It acts as a 'consumer advocate' for voters, an invaluable resource in any election."

Also, votesmart.org will continue to provide you the facts on elected officials and candidates. "A nonprofit, non-partisan organization, funded by the American people."

Primary Information

From the NYS Board of Elections re: the February 5 (Presidential) and September 9 (unofficial date for other offices) New York State 2008 primaries.

In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie, POLLS OPEN AT 6 AM - CLOSE AT 9 PM. In all other counties, POLLS OPEN AT 12 NOON and CLOSE AT 9 PM.

Here's a list of candidates' delegates.

Less Than 500 Days Left Before Election Day 2008

There's a website that lists all the major candidates and their stands on the issues; at least, the issues as designated by whoever created the site. It's interesting (to me) that the person with whom I am most in agreement hasn't a snowball's chance in Hades of winning.